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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 21, 2005 Residents debate changes to city charter By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Ashlanders had a lot to say about whether they want to keep power in the hands of elected city representatives or hand over more control to city staff. A crowd of approximately 75 people converged on the Southern Oregon University campus Thursday night to debate the pros and cons of continuing to concentrate powers in the mayoral office rather than the city administrator. The meeting was hosted by the Ashland Charter Review Committee, which is analyzing the document that sets up the city's structure and gathering input for possible changes to put before voters this fall. Residents also wrestled with whether voters should continue to select the city recorder and parks commissioners, and with what is the appropriate relationship between the mayor and city councilors. Mayor and council roles Under Ashland's "strong mayor" form of government, the mayor - with the confirmation of the council - hires and fires department heads. City managers, typically more powerful than city administrators, have hiring and firing control in many other communities. Some residents said the city should have a manager to handle the increasingly complex business of government, while others preferred that Ashlanders keep a greater measure of control over government through the elected mayor. Many said the mayor should not vote on issues before the city council except to break a tie, as is now the case, while others want the mayor to vote every time. "I like the present form. The mayor serves more as a facilitator of meetings, even if he has an agenda," said Michael Dawkins. One of the mayor's key powers is to appoint residents to the Ashland Planning Commission. "I doesn't make sense to me that the mayor should have that power," said Larry Kellogg, one of several advocating for shared appointment powers by the mayor and council. But residents also said mayoral appointments are more efficient. Some people expressed misgivings about any change to elect city councilors from wards rather than on an at-large basis. They worried not enough qualified candidates would run from each ward. Many were enthusiastic about the idea for all council candidates to run against each other, with the top finishers taking office. Currently, candidates run for a particular seat and usually face only one or two opponents for that position. "There should not be wards," David Chapman said. "There should be a whole list of candidates and you vote for the top three." Residents had mixed views on term limits. "When you have term limits, you lose experienced people," said Candice Chapman, voicing the views from that camp. Elected commissioners Residents said that folding the now-independent parks and recreation department into the regular city government could improve efficiency, but they also worried about parks losing priority status in the community. Many appreciated the role of the elected parks commission to shepherd the parks system, while also providing a point for residents to offer input and exercise control through elections. "I still feel it's very nice that there's a group of people looking after parks," Vern Crawford said. Spirited debate erupted about whether the city recorder - who handles public records, city elections and many financial matters - should still be elected or should be appointed by the city administrator or city council. Electing the city recorder raises the possibility that a person lacking the requisite skills could be voted into the office. "If I knock on enough doors, I could be city recorder," Greg Williams said. "I don't have the background for that�. It's a roll of the dice." But Suzi Aufderheide said an important role of the city recorder is to provide information and documents to residents. A city recorder who worked at the will of the city administrator or city council might be afraid to provide sensitive information to the public, she said. "How do we get the professionalism we need� but also get a person whose commitment is to the people?" asked JoAnne Eggers, summing up the dilemma. Residents had mixed views on whether they should be given the power to vote on annexations into the city, with some seeing a vote as a tool to slow unwelcome growth and others not wanting to be hassled with individual annexations that the public knows little about. Some proposed annexations that reached a threshold size should be referred to voters. Brain-storming Ashlanders spoke with affection about the city band and provisions for its existence in the current charter. "This must be one of the few cities on the planet that has a band in the charter," Wendell Fitzgerald said. "One of the reasons why I came here is this community's love of the arts. I love the oddness of that. It's gleefully anachronistic." As on most issues, views were divided on whether the fire department and police department should be merged. Residents had a variety of ideas on the over-riding values that should guide the charter, ranging from sustainability to encouragement of citizen participation to pushing the city council into becoming a long-range planning and visioning body instead of one that deals with the mundane details of governing. And as is almost always the case when a group of Ashlanders gather, residents hatched a number of creative ideas. The charter could include provisions for a citizen advisory committee to plan for the future, more stringent ethics standards, a formal citizen participation plan and provisions for paying the mayor and councilors to allow more low-income residents to fill those time-consuming but unpaid positions. For more information on the pros and cons of various charter options, visit the city of Ashland's Web site at www.ashland.or.us and click on "White Papers." 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